Travelling North May-July 2010 Mitchell/ Neil Turner Dam

 From St George we continued north and west  to Mitchell where we stayed at the Neil Turner  Dam which had a huge free camp area about 2 klms out of town.

 Dam Wall Neil Turner Dam

  This unusual dam was again  functional rather than a great feat of engineering . However in the water there were a few yabbies or red claw as several of the men put their pots in wiht mixed results.

 Our time here was memorable for the people we met and the great time we had with them.

 As it was quite cold we had a fire going all the time and there was usually someone sitting around it at any time of the day, so you could chat and keep warm. Naturally at the end of the day everyone gathered around the fire for a sundowner.  These sessions became quite entertaining with Glen playing the guitar and others telling jokes and poetry.

 We were here for the first State of Origin rugby match between NSW and QLD  and the local school had organised a pizza night so that if you placed an order the day before that evening they were delivered to the camping area. Quite a number of us took advantage of a way to support the locals.

For those that had no TV Steve set his up  outside as he had a bracket and like us could get reception as he had a sattellite dish.

 Fireside

 It was also here that I learned to play a dice game called Zilch which I'm sure others have heard of. It is certainly a way of whiling away a few hours especially when there is more than 2 players.

 Steve, Dave and Jan

 Some nights the group was much bigger than this

  While we were at Mitchell we were told of an interesting mural display that had been done on the bridge supports by the local people. One day when we were in town we stopped offand had a look at this fascinating work. It has even survived a flood although some of the murals are showing signs of wear and vandalism. Mitchell river Bridge

Major Mitchell Mural

 another of the murals

 The Kenniffs were notoriuos bushrangers in the area

 Service man's mural

 Flood mural  note the stick hanging from the bridge

 Mitchell river looking from the road bridge to the railway bridge

 transport mural

 Although the weather wasn't very kind to us here  being cold overcast and wet, we still had a good time with our new friends and were sad to leave and continue heading north.